Assessment of coliform contamination in drinking water from source to point of use in Mysore city of Karnataka, India

Drinking water supply of Mysore city was assessed for coliform contamination. A 277 drinking water samples were randomly collected from different water sources such as bore wells, taps of consumer points and stored household water samples. The samples were analyzed for microbial parameters like heterotrophic plate count and coliform count. Out of 226 samples from consumer points, 80 samples were contaminated with enteric bacteria. Nearly 325 isolates of coliform were identified of which there were 79 E. coli, 26 Salmonella, 92 Klebsiella and 98 Citrobacter isolates. From the study, the isolation of pathogenic microorganisms indicated that the stored household water was unsafe. Coliform contamination in household water was high even when source water was of good quality. The present study highlights the population’s hygiene, health behavior and environmental sanitation. Coliform in stored household water suggests that improvement in behavior and water hygiene practices can improve the household water quality

The SPTPoL extended cluster survey

We describe the observations and resultant galaxy cluster catalog from the 2770 deg2 SPTpol Extended Cluster Survey (SPT-ECS). Clusters are identified via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and confirmed with a combination of archival and targeted follow-up data, making particular use of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). With incomplete follow-up we have confirmed as clusters 244 of 266 candidates at a detection significance ξ ≥ 5 and an additional 204 systems at 4 4 threshold, and 10% of their measured SZ flux. We associate SZ-selected clusters, from both SPT-ECS and the SPT-SZ survey, with clusters from the DES redMaPPer sample, and we find an offset distribution between the SZ center and central galaxy in general agreement with previous work, though with a larger fraction of clusters with significant offsets. Adopting a fixed Planck-like cosmology, we measure the optical richness-SZ mass (l - M) relation and find it to be 28% shallower than that from a weak-lensing analysis of the DES data-a difference significant at the 4σ level-with the relations intersecting at λ = 60. The SPT-ECS cluster sample will be particularly useful for studying the evolution of massive clusters and, in combination with DES lensing observations and the SPT-SZ cluster sample, will be an important component of future cosmological analyses

Effect of stress on the free volume content of poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene)

The effect of stress (hydrostatic compression) on the free volume of poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene) has been investigated using the positron annihilation lifetime (PAL) technique in the pressure range of 0-14 kbar at room temperature. The variation of the annihilation parameters indicates that the free volume compression occurs at a higher pressure (>8 kbar) compared to molecular compression (4 kbar). The measured free volume size decreases from 95 to 73 Angstrom(3) under the influence of compression. The results also indicate a crystalline-amorphous transformation. The free volume compressibility (beta(f)) is found to be maximum around 9 kbar (10(-3) atm(-1)). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Optimization of Process Parameters During Drilling of Glass-Fiber Polyester Reinforced Composites Using DOE and ANOVA

Polymer-based composite material possesses superior properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness-to-weight ratio and good corrosive resistance and therefore, is attractive for high performance applications such as in aerospace, defense and sport goods industries. Drilling is one of the indispensable methods for building products with composite panels. Surface quality and dimensional accuracy play an important role in the performance of a machined component. In machining processes, however, the quality of the component is greatly influenced by the cutting conditions, tool geometry, tool material, machining process, chip formation, work piece material, tool wear and vibration during cutting. Drilling tests were conducted on glass fiber reinforced plastic composite [GFRP] laminates using an instrumented CNC milling center. A series of experiments are conducted using TRIAC VMC CNC machining center to correlate the cutting parameters and material parameters on the cutting thrust, torque and surface roughness. The measured results were collected and analyzed with the help of the commercial software packages MINITAB14 and Taly Profile. The surface roughness of the drilled holes was measured using Rank Taylor Hobson Surtronic 3+ instrument. The method could be useful in predicting thrust, torque and surface roughness parameters as a function of process variables. The main objective is to optimize the process parameters to achieve low cutting thrust, torque and good surface roughness. From the analysis it is evident that among all the significant parameters, speed and drill size have significant influence cutting thrust and drill size and specimen thickness on the torque and surface roughness. It was also found that feed rate does not have significant influence on the characteristic output of the drilling process

Histoplasmosis presenting as hypoadrenalism

Histoplasmosis is considered to be rare in India. Adrenal involvement is common in disseminated disease but may be the only site of demonstrable disease sometimes. We describe the case of a 36-year-old lady with type 2 diabetes mellitus who presented with adrenal insufficiency in whom computed tomography and fine needle aspiration cytology helped in establishing the diagnosis. A high index of clinical suspicion and appropriate use of invasive diagnostic methods will be helpful in early diagnosis and institution of appropriate treatment